The present specification makes reference to a computer program listing contained in an Appendix, which is stored on one CD-ROM in a file titled xe2x80x9cappendix.txtxe2x80x9d, the complete contents of which are incorporated by reference as if fully contained herein.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any one of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates to automatic document processing. The invention relates more specifically to printing electronic documents with automatically interleaved separation sheets.
One method of communicating information is to display the information by projecting it onto a screen to be viewed by a number of spectators. An example is the use of transparencies that bear printed information for projection onto a screen by means of an overhead projector. With the widespread use of computers coupled with the ease of use of word processing computer programs, it has become commonplace for anyone to produce transparencies bearing printed information for a myriad of presentations, such as technical research presentations, or board meeting presentations.
Most computer printers have the ability to print on transparency film. However, once a stack of transparency sheets is printed out, the sheets tend to stick to one another due to surface electrostatic build-up. As a result, when a speaker is giving a presentation, it is difficult to grasp individual sheets and place them on the projector.
Another problem is that when all the printed transparencies are placed in a stack, it is difficult to read the contents of a particular sheet of transparency film. When a stack of transparencies has been printed with the desired information, a user will often wish to examine each transparency for accuracy and visual design layout. Such an examination is facilitated if opaque sheets of paper are interleaved between the printed transparency sheets.
Moreover, a person making a presentation will often prefer to assess the contents of the next transparency that he is about to place on the overhead projector. Being able to spend a few seconds reading the printed information on the transparency allows the person making the presentation to gather his thoughts on what he is about to say. In past approaches, however, the content appears visually jumbled because the sheets are transparent. Opaque sheets may be inserted between the transparencies manually, but the task of separating and interleaving the printed transparencies with opaque sheets is both tedious and time-consuming.
To overcome the foregoing problems, one solution is to design and manufacture a specialized computer printer for transparencies. However, such a solution is expensive and not very versatile.
Based on the foregoing, there is a need for a computer output device that can automatically interleave pages from a first source tray between pages of a document that the device is outputting using a second source tray.
In particular, there is a need for a low-cost method or mechanism that can automatically print or otherwise output printed transparencies separated by appropriate separation sheets.
The foregoing needs and objects, and other needs and objects that will become apparent from the following disclosure, are fulfilled by the present invention, which comprises, in one aspect, a method for printing an electronic document with automatically interleaved separation sheets. In one embodiment, this aspect may be used for controlling a computer output device to automatically interleave pages from a first source tray between pages of a document that the device is outputting using a second source tray, for example, using transparency film and opaque separation sheets.
One feature of this aspect is to convert an existing computer software printer driver such that it includes a transparency printing option, with a sub-option for interleaving separation sheets between the printed transparencies. According to another feature, the method further involves generating a new computer printer description file, based on the original printer description file of the existing printer.
In another feature, the printer driver is reinstalled using the newly generated printer description file. Reinstalling the computer printer driver may involve running the executable printer driver installer file and designating the newly generated computer printer description file as the input file when an installer prompts for such a file.
According to still another feature, the new printer driver automatically alters a graphical user interface of an operating system with which the printer driver is used, thereby providing new printing features, including the option of selecting a particular source tray for the transparency film as well as a source tray for the separation sheets.
According to another feature, the invention provides a method for generating a new computer printer description file, comprising the steps of identifying and describing all available source trays for separation sheets in the output device; redefining a print command to print a transparency from a user designated transparency source tray, immediately followed by inserting a separation sheet from a user designated source tray for separation sheets; and generating a time stamp.
In other aspects, the invention encompasses a computer apparatus, a computer-readable medium, and a carrier wave configured to carry out the foregoing steps.